MonsterHunter: Rise of the Wyverns
by SHADOWR0MAN
Summary: In the World of Monster Hunter, a young boy named Xan was born to become a legacy of his parents. After a long period of no monsters to hunt, Xan doesn't think becoming a legacy is possible. But an evil power is releasing creatures. Can Xan fight back?
1. Chapter 1

------------------------------------------------Chapter 1: Hero's Beginning--------------------------------------------

Every journey has its surprises, and for me, my journey held one of my greatest surprises. My objective in my journey was to become one of the greatest hunters of the world. I had already surpassed all of the hunters in my village, but my thirst to be the best made me want to get out and make a name for myself. This thirst took me pretty far. I am now a second class hunter about to be in the top class after a few more high rank quests. Unfortunately, it's been rather quiet in the town of Kokoto. I've wandered through the jungles, hiked through the hills and forests, and scoured the dunes of the desert. Nothing has been out of order...this silence puts a suspicious feeling in the mind. As if something is waiting to appear. Though these failed missions give me a loss hope to finally rank up, one mission contained something I was never expecting to find..as I was venturing through the jungle, I found the ruins of an ancient temple. The front stone doors leading within the this temple seemed to have been blasted open. Upon closer inspection, I saw the remains of gunpowder, immediately I knew there was another hunter here. Turning back to see if there was anything else I might have missed that could help show me what would be the reason for this break in, I saw many foot prints and slashes in the soft soil..there was a battle here. And judging by the scene, the hunter was not victorious. I finally decided to venture into the temple.

Minutes pass and I have yet to find anything. Mere seconds pass and I hear the tapping of feet..upon closer attention I noticed these weren't common footsteps..whatever was walking had claws..I quickly draw my blade. The sword I chose to bring on this mission was not the strongest or best blade. It was my very first sword, the Odyssey Sword. It wasn't worth much, but it was very meaningful to me..it belonged to my brother, who fell at the hands of the King of the Skies, the Rathalos. He died in my arms and gave me the sword and told me to continue his legacy. To never forget who I was and where I came from and become the best the world has seen. It has always been a good luck charm to me, and I highly doubted it would fail me here. Whatever was here would be slain in the memory of my fallen brother.

I scanned the room for any threat..none so far. I began heading to the next room when I heard a small roar and the swinging of a sword.. Whoever was here is still fighting on. I made it my duty to assist them and ran to the next room. Nothing there, where ever that battle is going on, it was at the end of this long and narrow hall. I did not hesitate to run down to try to get there before the hunter meets their end. I enter the room to see a Velocidrome and two of its followers cornering a hunter in the shadows. Immediately I ran up to a velociprey and slashed at its neck to get an instant kill. The beast dropped to the ground, and by the time the other two monsters noticed my presence, I was already swinging my blade again to slay the other small follower. Causing instant fatality, I was finally ready to face off against the Drome one on one.

We stared into each other's eyes..we both knew one wouldn't survive this battle, and we both would not accept losing this battle. He gave off the first attack by trying to slash at me with his extensive claws. But his attack was a failure. I dodged and quickly tried to swing at his side. I only got one slice in before he swung his tail around and threw me back. Instantly I jumped back to my feet and took hold of my blade. Running with pure rage, I rushed the large beast. Suddenly he dodges to the side, and like lightning, struck me with its head. I flew back a couple feet. Obviously this Velocidrome had much experience with fighting and would surely be a great challenge. As I was getting up, I noticed I had hit a rock and my lip was bleeding. I was also thinking at the same time that the hunter must be having a hard time keeping alive. I had to end that battle then and there. I got up furiously and with all my strength, ran at the ferocious leader. He tried again to fool me to have a clear shot for an attack, but I foresaw his tactic and dodged his head-butt, spun and stabbed the sword into his beating heart... All was silent for a moment, and then the beast tumbled to the ground. After regaining my breath for a couple seconds, I turned to the hunter.

The hunter was still shrouded in shadows, I asked if they needed help and offered my hand to help them up. They slowly reached up for my hand and gripped on tight. I used all the strength I could to hold them up since they couldn't use all their own strength. Almost instantly as they stood up, they fainted. I caught them, and finally seeing them out of the shadows, I saw that it was this beautiful young girl, probably not even a year younger than me. As I was lifting her up more to get a better grip, her long brown hair flowed with the small peaceful wind within the temple. Her armor is broken in many places and torn in others. Her face and arms were covered in scratches and cuts from fighting the drome.

I checked her pulse and she was still hanging on. I removed some pieces of armor so they wouldn't get in my way while I'm dressing her wounds. After about an hour of wrapping her and cleaning her wounds. I finally decided to take her to a safer place so she can heal much more efficiently. I picked her up and carried her all the way to the village. It took a day due to reach the outskirts of town. Only about an hour's distance was left. I decided to camp for the night and finish it up when I had a bit more energy. I pitched my tent and put the young hunter in it and I rested outside next to the fire. I was finally about to sleep when she awoke. She didn't speak much, but she managed to thank me for saving her.

At that moment, I never expected that she would become my wife and the mother of my son. She was and still is the best thing that has happened to me. And I hope her and I can raise our son to become a great hunter as we were...

Slowly I close my father's diary. I first found it about a week ago and have yet stopped reading it. Unfortunately, none of my parents are around..they both passed away after an attack from a demonic dragon..but even without their presence, I will do as they wished for me...I shall become their legacy...


	2. Chapter 2

----------------------------------------------------Chapter 2: Getting Started------------------------------------------

Around this time, all is peaceful. Only a few disturbances here and there from minor creatures. Nothing an average farmer with a pitchfork can't handle. It is believed that at this time it is the end of all dragons, mostly because there haven't been any sightings in years. But still, one can't help but feel as if it is not over yet, that something will reveal itself in time...

"XANNNN!!!!" called the enraged woman. "XAAANN!! DON'T FORGET ALL THE CHORES YOU HAVE TO DO YOU LAZY PILE OF TRASH!!"

I got out of bed restless and annoyed, preparing to begin my normal day. Unfortunately this is what I had to wake up to. I couldn't help but wish I was as fortunate as my best friend Zakca. He and his family were the richest in the village, his father collects many rare items and sells them to other high class collectors. One of his prized possessions is a large dragon egg. No one knows what it's from, but it was dropped in lava centuries ago and is now a giant round rock. Some say it's just a rock shaped like an egg. Many people like I, don't really care, but it's something that they care much about, so I respect it for that.

Another thing that Zakca is more fortunate than I, is that he knows and lives with both his parents, unlike I whose parents ran away, died, or are just unknown. I live with a woman who wanted someone to do all the work she didn't feel like doing. So basically, I'm a slave to this woman. I get no respect and always expected to know all and get everything perfect. But I at least have a really good friend such as Zakca, who helps me forget it all. Someday I will run away from all this...

SMACK! "DON'T YOU HERE ME CALLING YOU?!" she bellowed, "GET THIS WORK DONE OR YOU'LL BE SLEEPING WITH THE MOSSWINE TONIGHT!!"

"Alright! I'm going!" I call back.

SMACK! "DON'T EVER TALK TO ME LIKE THAT AGAIN YOU FILTH!"

I ignored the pain and continued on with my usual work. But something about today didn't seem right...something was off. Noon came and I was done with all my chores but one. All was left was delivering some tropical berries to Zakca's father. He loved these berries and was willing to pay us for them, so of course we would sell them to him. For some reason, he'd only buy these berries from us. He would not accept any from anyone else. Eager to finally get to hang out with Zakca, I quickly walked to his house, which was perched at the top of a hill closest to the village. It would take at least fifteen minutes to walk up there, plus ten minutes to go through all his property to his front door. Breathless, I finally reached the front door.

"Well hello there!" greeted Zakca's mother, "Zakca's in the back with Sparks. Oh, here, let me take those berries to Johnathan"

She led me inside and took me to their extremely large backyard, easily someone could get lost in that town of a backyard. She told me he was in the forested area with Sparks, his felyne. I started in that direction when I saw a small explosion from that area. Now I was bolting to the scene, hoping that everything was alright. I made it to where the explosion and scanned for any sign of Zakca or Sparks. For the first few minutes I didn't anyone. Then a small object hit me on the head. I look down on the ground to see it was a felvine leaf rolled into a ball. I look up and see Zakca and Sparks stuck up the tree.

"Hyia" he says and gives me a dorky smile. Him and sparks were trying to make a somewhat safe bomb that embedded the smell of felvine onto whoever it exploded on. So the felynes and menlynx would be attracted to them and chase them franticly. Zakca enjoyed watching pranks; it was part of his cruel sense of humor.

"So who are you planning on blowing this stuff on?" I asked.

"I dont know. Maybe that Rathian that dwells in your house," he suggested with a large grin.

"Nah, a Rathian is actually beautiful..in a way. Unlike that THING that hibernates in my house who terrifies every man in the world to his very soul, just by her sight," I said smugly with a smirk.

We both laughed and started heading to his home. We spent the rest of the afternoon with his father who loved to tell stories of when the monsters were around and life was nothing but adventure. These stories always filled my mind with dreams of becoming a great hunter, and maybe even a hero. But these dreams were just dreams, I knew that the world of hunting monsters was over, and nothing could ever make me a hero.

"Well, we hope to see you soon Xan. Have safe trip home now," said Zakca's father as he led me out the door.

"JOHNATHAN! JOHNATHAN!"

We all turned to see what was going on. It was Zakca's father's researcher. He researched the past creatures and studied their old actions and their way of life. He was greatly credited for assisting Zakca's father find many of his rare items.

"Johnathan! Johnathan!" he franticly panted. "I f-found something!"

"Well what is it?" asked Zakca's father semi-excitedly.

"I-it's not what you might think" he said affrightedly. He whispers something to Zakca's father. Almost instantly, his face goes pale.

"What's wrong hun?" asks Zakca's mother.

"N-nothing....Xan! Zakca! I need to speak with you privately," he said and took us to his collection room where he keeps his most precious items.

He closed the door after we walked in. He walks toward a spike shaped item on the shelf where he keeps his rarest items. He takes hold of this spike and walks back to us.

"Do you two know what this is?" he asked us. We both nodded. "This is the claw of the King of the Skies, the Rathalos. Years ago Nethaniel and I found it near the hills. Supposedly the wyverns died off years before, but this claw seemed almost new when we found it. For years we have believed that the creatures were in hiding, and just waiting to show themselves again....we think that day has come.."

"Why do you say that dad?" asked Zakca, "You only found a claw and that was years ago."

"Yes, but today, I found a carcass of an aptonoth and found this on it," said Nethaniel showing us a large fang.

"I-is that a Rathalos fang?" asked Zakca.

"Yes..it is and I fear that the monsters have come back, and by all the time that they have been unhunted and untouched, they must have multiplied drastically. And who knows how many more species there are!" said Nethaniel in fear.

"But what does that have to do with us?" I asked.

"I want you two to join Nethaniel and investigate," said Zakca's father, "I would do it myself, but I must do all I can from here. I am of no use in that world anymore...I have...gotten too old...but you two..I believe you two would do a great job with this responsibility..Xan..I knew your father..and if you are anything like him, you will do an amazing job..and Zakca, my son, I believe in you greatly. I know you won't fail...do you both accept?"

"Yes! Sir!" said zakca with much enthusiasm.

"...I don't know...can you give me a night to think it over?" I asked.

"Of course. Nethaniel leaves tomorrow morning so you might want to have your answer before," Zacka's father informed.

"Yes, sir," I said.

I said my good-byes and walked home. All the way home I couldn't help but think -is this a sign? Am I really going to get the chance to become a real hunter?...like my parents?-

I got home and felt like sleeping on it, but as I got home. i have found my answer..

"XAN!! YOU LAZY CRAP! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?! GET IN HERE!" my slave driver yelled. As I went through the door and the second I had my foot inside, she ran up to me and slapped me across the face. Immediately my skin cried out in pain from the stinging of her hand making contact with my face. She quickly grabbed my hair and pulled at it and threw me into my room.

"NEVER ASK TO GO ANYWHERE AGAIN! FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE YOU WILL BE HERE!!! YOU WORTHLESS CRAP WILL NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING! YOU ARE WORTHLESS GARBAGE THAT WILL HAVE NO USE IN THE REAL WORLD!!" she bellowed.

I laid on my bed on my stomach, ignoring all my pain, holding in all the anger, wishing for love...my mind was made up..I shall join them in their journey.

I began to pack some clothes, my father's diary, and my father's lucky scarf..then remembered something that was given to me by Zakca's father years ago...I pulled a floorboard open and reached inside the small hole made there and pulled out the Odyssey sword...I will finally escape this hell!


	3. Chapter 3

-----------------------------------------------------Chapter 3: Journey's Beginning------------------------------------

"Glad to see you decided to join us," said Nathaniel.

"Yea. I thought the Beast was gonna keep you in," remarked Zakca.

"Haha, yea.." I said un-noticeably sarcastic. I was going to wait until we got to the next town to tell them I ran away.

We were heading to the town of Torantess, where we were supposed to meet someone that Zakca's father knew that would help us on our journey to seek the wyverns and other monsters. Supposedly he was a great tracker back when monsters ran amuck.

Hopefully he would still be in perfect condition to assist us in our journey. In order to get to Torantess, we need to go through the mountains; across the desert and past some caves and the town should be right there. Nathaniel had a map that had its exact coordinates.

"How much longer 'till we get there?" whined Zakca.

"We've just to get through that passage right there between the mountains. From there it's at least a two hour walk through the desert and then maybe an hour to find our way through the caves" informed Nathaniel

Zakca whined for the whole way through the passage and we decided to camp out at the edge of the desert nearest to the mountain passage. We unpacked the tent from the aptonoth we brought along and set it up. After feeding the aptonoth, we started a campfire and took turns at night to watch out for any velociprey. I was the one to take the first shift while Nathaniel and Zakca rested. For an hour, everything was quiet, until I hear something rustling in the bushes. Quickly, I drew my Odyssey sword, waiting for any possible enemy.

"BRREEE!"

Like lightning, two kelbi jumped out of the bushes and dashed past the camp. They were so quick, they startled the aptonoth. Quickly I came to its aid and calmed it before it began to panic. I turned to see what they were running from but saw nothing. I began to listen closely in case I could hear something. Instantly I hear the call of the Velocidrome, as well as a human's cries. Immediately, I ran to help out whoever was in peril.

I ran a couple yards until I saw the Velocidrome and its prey. Upon close inspection, I saw that it was a young man, not too far in age from Zakca or me. Nonetheless, I needed to help him. Instantly, I began sprinting toward the both of them so I could try to intercept the drome.

After two minutes, the drome already had this guy cornered and was ready to strike. The next second was so quick, I barely remembered it. But after that second. I was face to face with the drome. I meant to block with my sword, but miscalculated and instead blocked with my arm. The dromes fangs were pierced through my skin and now soaking the cloth of my jacket.

With my free arm, I punched the drome in attempt to release myself of its grip. I finally got the right spot by hitting dead in the eye. It released its grip and my arm was free, though in a lot of pain, I knew I couldn't let this thing take the life of this young man. I spun the blade and got a better grip of it and began to charge. He spun around and tail whipped me into the wall. I tried to get up, but I was too dizzy from the impact. I stumbled back on my feet, but as I got a good stance, the drome was already ramming me. I flew back to the wall, with an even greater impact than before. I was too dazed to even see my own hand in front of my face. I tried to make another attempt to fight it, but as I was getting back up, I noticed my sword was gone, but before I could even think about it for another second, the drome was already pouncing on me. The next thing I knew, I was pinned to the ground, with the drome standing on me, just savoring his victory. He struck at my head to finally finish me off, but I quickly moved my head to the side. I squirmed to try to free myself, but it only agitated the beast even more. Now it looked like I wasn't get out of this, he was too powerful and fast....The drome pulled its head back, ready to finish me....

"SHHHHHHNNNKKKKK"

"GRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!" howled the drome in fierce pain.

I caught a glimpse of what had just happened, and it was the young boy, he had my sword and stabbed it through the side of the drome. The drome just stared at him in anger and shock. As they both made eye contact, he twisted the blade, causing more pain toward the drome. The drome shrieked in pain, but quickly turned again, and spun around, tail whipping the boy and sending him quite a distance away into a felvine bush. The sword fell next to me and instantly I took hold of it and swung at the foot of the beast. Crying in pain, it finally released me and I instantly stood up and began to charge the drome and before it knew I was coming, I already had slashed its throat. This terror finally toppled to the ground with a thud. The battle was over and I was victorious...my first battle....

I began to search for the boy and looked through the bushes where he had fallen...he had disappeared...

"GRAAAHHH!!!" howled the thought to be dead drome.

Surprised, I quickly turned to see it about to strike, but then it stopped..as if it was struck by lightning... It fell over and I immediately saw what had finished it off. It was the boy, with a large drome claw, most likely one I broke off when I was trying to escape it. He had stabbed it in the neck, making my previous cut deeper and fatal.

"-Pant- -pant-..So what's your name?" he asked. "I'm Zang"


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4: Zang-

"AHHH! DAMN!" I yelled in pain.

"Well stop struggling and you should be fine," Zang said as he was using a medical aid on my freshly cut wound.

Zang's village is set in a hidden valley within the mountains of the desert where many healing herbs and many other plants with healing properties reside. He was over here in search of a crystal believed to relieve anyone of any poisonous substances, but instead found the Velocidrome in search of food. Fortunately I was able to assist him before he was dinner.

"So, how did you learn to he-OW!" I asked.

"I learned from my father, who used to assist G-rank hunters years ago," Zang explained, "unfortunately he became sick a

few years ago and tried to find the cure, but passed on as he was on the verge of finding the combination of the legendary lifepowder. He just needed these crystals that are really rare to find, all his research is in his journal… I wish I could continue his research, but I don't think I'd be able to…"

"Well if you do a good job on Xan, there's hope for you yet," assured Zakca.

"Thanks. I'm glad to hear that," said Zang.

"I dont know. I think he'd be a better fighter, he seemed to know what he was doing the moment he got something he could use as a weapon against the drome," I stated.

"It's all up to you Zang, whatever you want to be, we're sure you'll be good at it," added Nathaniel.

"Thanks guys, you don't know how good that makes me feel," said Zang. Then I noticed something going down his cheek.

"Zang. Are you crying?" I pointed out.

"Wha-? No!" he exclaimed whipping the tear from his cheek. At that moment, I knew that wasn't a tear..

"Zang! You're bleeding!" I exclaimed. Zang turned his head and with the light of the fire, we saw the long slash across his eye.

"How could you possibly not notice that?" exclaimed Zakca.

"I don't know. I guess I was too focused on you guys, I didn't feel it," Zang informed, "I'm not a heavy bleeder, so I guess it wasn't that noticeable."

He began to use the medical kit on himself and cleared up the blood and bandaged his wounded eye. The Velocidrome had slashed at him with his large claws, luckily, Zang probably had his eyes shut so his eye didn't get messed up. But now there will most likely be a large scar remaining.

We spent the remainder of the night sleeping, only to wake up in the early morning and continue our trip to Zang's village for information on a wyvern's whereabouts. Hopefully with this information, we can find proof of the existence of the monsters. Maybe we can warn others of the oncoming evolution of the monsters.

We finally reached the village of Torantess. It was small and undeveloped; one could tell that it wasn't long ago that this town had been built. There were a few shops here and there, where Nathaniel stopped by to get some more equipment. Nathaniel had let us in charge in finding the monster tracker. He went by the name of Dylan Solotice. But before we could start on our search for him, Zang insisted on us having dinner with his family.

"Zang! You home yet?" his mother called.

"Yea mom, I'm back," he answered, "oh and I have new friends I would like you to meet."

"Oh! Hello. I'm pleased to meet you two," she greeted, "I'm Lerana. I-ZANG! What happened to your eye?"

"Don't worry mom I'm okay. It's all thanks to these two," he assured, "Mom, this is Zakca and Xan"

Zakca and I both waved to her and said hi.

"Thank you for saving my little boy," she said quickly pulling him toward her and kissing his head.

"MOM!" Zang whined, while Zakca and I chuckled.

"Well, I hope you two are staying for dinner," she offered.

"Of course," Zakca and I said.

She served dinner and we were all sitting around the table. We sat there for a couple moments, and as time passed, Zang's family began filling in the empty seats. His family lived at his house until his uncles were done building their own homes. Since it was a small town and building supplies were scarce, it was taking a lot of time. Finally everyone was seated and dinner was completely passed out. She made heaven bread and king turkey, along with some gold rice and soul beans. Zang said that his mother always wanted to be a gourmet chef, but wasn't able to gain enough money to pay to go to gourmet school. Recently, felynes have been able to enroll into those schools and have been working along with humans to create the most amazing food known to man.

Half way through dinner, one of Zang's uncles was telling us a story about his hunts in the past, and how he loved to fight for his town and be with his friends.

"Then my partners began running everywhere, worrying that he had lost the Kut-Ku because he didn't paintball it. But I told him that I knew where the Kut-Ku always goes and soon enough, we find it and defeat it. Especially me with my Dualcaster bowgun. Boy, I tell 'ya, those things were heavy, but luckily, I always carried by trusty dagger. It's made of some strange metal, but it's always come through for me," told his uncle, and he waved this small black dagger.

"Dylan! Put that away!" ordered Lerana.

"Dylan?" I asked, "Dylan Solotice?"

"Yea," he answered, "why?"

We explained everything to him, and he agreed to help us. Later on that night, he was outside looking at the stars.

"What's wrong?" asked Zang.

"What you told me...the other night, I heard noises up the mountains, so I decided to hike up there. And I saw something I haven't seen in years...Do you know what it is?" he asked.

We all nodded.

"Heh...it was a Rathalos footprint...surely the monsters have returned..." Dylan stated frightfully.

"So what do we do now?" I asked.

"Well, we could just stand here and let everything happen suprisingly..or we fight back," Dylan said with much courage in his voice.

"THEN LETS FIGHT!" exlaimed Zang with much enthusiasm.

"YEA!" Zakca and I both agreed.

"Alright. We shall begin our hunt at dawn. For now, let's get some rest and I'll prepare my tracking equipment," he said.

We all agreed and arrived at Zang's house to get some rest. When we got there, Nathaniel had already arrived and was waiting for us.

"So I see you've all met," Nathaniel said.

"How's it going old friend?" asked Dylan.

"Fine. So what do you think of Drang's son?" Nathaniel said.

"T-this is Drang's son?" Dylan asked open-mouthed, "OF COURSE! How could I not see it? You are son of a great hunter Xan. Your father and I had done so many missions together in the past. I expect no less from you."

"Thank you, sir," I said modestly, "I only hope to be as good as my father."

"You must have something your father gave to me long ago," Dylan said, "Hold here a moment."

He ran inside the house, and a couple minutes later, came back out with a large black cloak.

"It doesn't seem like much, but trust me, this thing kept your father safe in so many situations," he began, "and before your father passed, he told me to take care of this for him. But I think you will need it more."

He handed me the coat and I thanked him much for it. After that, he told us he had a couple weapons saved that we'd be able to use the next day for our hunt. So, all that was left to do was to get some rest. And that's exactly what we did. The room we were all sleeping in was very large and had a large mat on the ground where everyone made their bed. Feeling awkward, Zakca and I chose to sleep in a somewhat secluded area, but still kept our distance from each other. Sleep enveloped us and we fell swiftly to sleep...

BOOOOOMM!

RRRRRAAAAAAARRRGGGGGG!

A bright and firey blaze covered my view, along with thick smoke that seemed to blind the senses. All that could be heard was the crackling of the scorched wood and the panic of frightened people. After collecting myself, I could see everyone was out. Zang, Zakca and Nathaniel were helping the rest of the family escape. The only person I had yet to find was

Dylan.

-Cough- -Cough- -Cough-

"Zang! Help me get this piece of wood here!" I ordered, and sure enough Dylan was under the reckage. Quickly we helped him up and tried to walk him away from danger, but as we got into the burning streets, something swept us off our feet and the next we knew, we were flying backwards. Immense pain flowed through our backs as we hit the wall, unfortunately too much for Dylan to be able to handle. He collapsed the second he tried to get up again. Zang and I quickly ran to his aid.

"Come on, you'll be ok. We'll get you out of here," Zang assured.

"It's too late...Zang..here," Dylan said, pulling out his knife, "Take this...it brought me much luck, and it should bring you much luck as well. Take care of your friends and family, they are all you have..."

Dylan's body was now immobile...his soul was released.

RRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGG!

Quickly Zang and I turned to see what caused this destruction...All that could be seen through the flames were rage-filled blue eyes and a the shadow of a great beast. Suddenly the shadow lunges into the air and disappears into the night skies...


	5. Chapter 5

-Chapter 5: Blazing Inferno-

"What the hell was that?" yelled Zang, "Answer me Xan!"

"That was the Rathalos, the King of the Skies," I began.

"I don't give a damn for its title, just tell me what it's doing here and why it killed my uncle!" shouted Zang.

BAMMM!

In a flash, I punched Zang in the face.

"Calm yourself Zang. Getting mad like this will only bring more harm than good," I explained.

"-sigh- Alright...I'll try...it's just that...he meant so much to me..." he informed, wiping the blood from his lower lip.

"I don't know how it is to lose someone you care about because everyone I could have cared about is already gone, but even then, keep yourself cool. It allows you to better think through everything." I said.

"Alright. So where do we go now?" Zang asked.

"We have to find your uncle's journals on monster tracking; it's the only way we'll find that thing. I'm just hoping that everything made it through the disaster," I answered.

For an hour, we were searching heated metal chests for Dylan's journals and remainder of his weapons. What were recovered were a few books on wyvern tracking and combining items. The rest of the books had been burned or severely damaged. The weapons we were able to find were an Iron Gunlance and a Carbalite Sword, there was one more weapon there, but it could not be removed from the wreckage.

From Zang's burnt home, we went to the items shop to see if any supplies could be recovered that we could use. What was left in the item shop were a couple potions, three whetstones, and some barrel bombs. It was a good thing that the flames were put out before the bombs ignited.

"Alright. Are we all set?" I asked enthusiastically.

"Yea!" shouted Zang.

"Let's go!" shouted Zakca.

For hours we studied our surroundings and followed the writing within the journal. We were able to easily spot out where the Rathalos had been. From the look of these areas, we knew we were getting close. I, with the very light weapon, had no problem walking through all this terrain, but my two allies who were bearing these enormous weapons were having a tougher time. Zang carried the large and heavy gunlance as well as its large pack of bullets and Zakca the extremely

large greatsword. Occasionally we would take a rest and regain energy for the upcoming battle.

"So does that book say we're getting any closer?" asked Zang while sitting on the stump of a tree.

"Seems so. From what this book says, we have to just look for an area full of bones," I stated, "once we find that, it means that we're at its nest, and from there we can set a trap."

"Alright. Seems good," Zakca said.

It began to rain softly. It wasn't all too surprising, considering that we were at the edge of a swamp area. As it began to rain harder, the three of us noticed something. The water from the rain was washing away mud from these small objects on the floor...they were bones...

AAARRRRAAARRRGGGGHHHH!

We all turned rapidly to see that we were already where we needed to be, but realized too late to set a trap.

BAAAAMMM! BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

In that scene, it looked as if all hell broke loose. It began to rain fireballs, from the hovering wyvern that was aware of our presence and ready to fight. I had ducked behind a large broken log and Zang dodged behind a large boulder. Zakca was about to jump behind a tree when the blast from a fireball had caught him and flung him several meters away. The Rathalos was ready for another blast, and he was directly aimed at Zakca.

BAAAMM!

The blast was very powerful and I was surprised I was able to block the blast. Immediately I turned to Zang.

"Zang! Now's your chance!" I ordered.

BAAAAAAAAAAMMMMM! BAAAAAAAMMMMM! BAAAAAMMMMM!

The Rathalos kept on hammering me with multiple fireballs. There was no way I would last any longer. I quickly turned to Zakca. He was out cold, that blast had thrown him to a rock, which must have knocked him unconscious.

Zang crept under the Rathalos, pointed his gunlance strait up and charged the blast. As the gunlance was in mid charge, the Rathalos looked straight down and saw what was to happen. It was readying to fire another fireball, but it was too late.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

The Rathalos was blasted out of the sky and landed only a few feet away from Zang. Quickly I grabbed Zakca's greatsword and charged at the Rathalos before it had a chance to recover.

"Zang! Blast him!" I ordered.

"Alright! Here we go!" he readied himself.

BAAAAMMM!

Zang blasted the Rathalos with multiple shots while I slashed at his tough scales. The Rathalos began to stand and before Zang and I could react, the Rathalos swept us away with his tail. Both of us were relieved of our weapons and were a good distance away from either weapon, making it impossible to get to them before the Rathalos did. Before Zang and I could even begin to go for our weapons, the Rathalos was already charging at us.

A minute passed of the Rathalos chasing us when I noticed Zakca was gone. I looked around and saw that he put the gunlance shield and his greatsword over three barrel bombs. Unfortunately for Zang, the patch on his eye was covering his view to see what Zakca was up to. But I knew what Zakca was up to, and he was giving us the signal to lead the Rathalos there.

"Zang! Follow me!" I ordered.

"Will do!" he assured.

We both turned toward Zakca and the bombs. Zakca was behind the bombs charging the gunlance. And now Zang was able to see what was going on and knew what was going to happen. We were only three feet from the bombs when we both executed our plan.

"Zang! Dodge! NOW!" I commanded.

We both dodged to the side and the bombs were ignited right in the Rathalos's face. The explosion caused the sword and greatsword to be thrown at the Rathalos, where the greatsword pierced the beast's belly and the shield bluntly hit the Rathalos dead in the head.

With a great thud, the monster toppled over. When we walked over, we saw that the Rathalos was barely hanging on by a thread. Then Zang walked closer.

"This is for my uncle..." he whispered in anger and stabbed his uncle's dagger into its throat, finally ending the monster's life.

The rain continued on...


	6. Chapter 6

-Chapter 6: Road to Redemption-

We couldn't walk all the way back home so we decided to camp out and try to recover as much as we could to return in the morning. But I couldn't sleep. All I did all night was stare at the the small blade I had recovered from the Rathalos's throat. All I could think about was how Zang was feeling about the whole destruction of his town… the death of his uncle. I decided I should probably see if he was okay.

I walked out and saw that his tent wasn't up. Had he wandered on his own? I noticed all his equipment was there by the fire. I couldn't help but wonder where he was.

Off to a distance I can hear grunting and yells. Quickly I ran to the location where the sounds were being created.

Immediately I saw Zang surrounded by a pack of velociprey. I quickly grabbed my blade and was about to charge to help him, until I noticed what was happening.

A velociprey began its attack by trying to pounce, but Zang foresaw it and dodged to the side and gave the velociprey a jab to the side of the head and continued his own combination of attacks. He punched and kicked until the prey was down, then another velociprey began to engage and slashed at him, but he quickly turned and blocked it with his arm. Though his arm was covered in blood, he still continued to use it in his assault on the pack. He was challenging them all at once, and was doing well for a while, until the prey began getting clever and using sneak attacks.

Now I knew I needed to be in this fight. Without a second thought I leaped over the boulder I was hiding behind and tackled down a velociprey and swiftly snapped its neck.

"ZANG!" I called, and threw his dagger to him.

"XAN! I DON'T NEED YOU'RE HELP!" he hollered.

"Just shut up and fight!" I ordered.

Immediately he swung his arm with the dagger in hand, at the pack. The prey surrounding him quickly backed off. He used that opportunity to stand back up and regain a bit of strength. The prey sensed that Zang was weak, so they began to surround him again. I saw they're plan and jumped in next to him so he knew he wasn't alone in this battle.

"You know the rules to this fight, Xan?" he asked.

"No weapons?" I asked.

"Exactly. You ready for it?" he asked intimidatingly.

"Always," I assured.

The next few moments were filled with punches, kicks, neck-snapping, and jaw-breaking attacks of all sorts. The battle raged on for fifteen minutes until there were no more living velociprey left to attack. I looked over to

Zang and his shirt-less back was covered in cuts and bites, as well as his arms.

"So... you want to tell me why you're out here doing this?" I asked.

"Heh..You're smart Xan, I think you can figure it out." he said.

"I figured most of it out, but why do you come out here and fight without any armor or anything?" I questioned.

"Because, I like to feel the pains of battle. I enjoy giving off more pain than I am receiving to my opponent," he answered.

"I see...so this has nothing to do with what happened the other night?" I asked.

"Of course it does...it feels as if I lost a father for the second time... My uncle was always there for me and took the place of my father since there was no one else that could take his place...not entirely of course...no one can ever replace my father.." he trailed off.

"I'm glad you're finding a way to release your anger and sorrow. But maybe you shouldn't do it in a way where you are hurting yourself. The way things are right now, you can't afford to go into battle covered in wounds. Plus, I as your friend don't like to see you getting hurt. As a hunter, I'm supposed to protect my friends and fellow hunters." I informed.

"Alright Xan. I'll put some armor next time...I know my father wouldn't like seeing me like this either...

Hey, I'll even call you over so we can have another epic team battle. Okay?" he offered.

"Of course, Zang. Anytime." I accepted. "Hey, come on. Let's fix you up and continue on our journey."

"Journey? You mean..."we" as in, me too?" he asked.

"Of course, you're one of us. Are you not?" I asked.

His eyes were filled with so much joy that it seemed to overwhelm him.

"YEA! DEFINATELY! LET'S GO!" he yelled enthusiastically.

We went back to scorched town. Everyone was alright and they were going to begin reparations on the town soon.

And in no time, the town would be fixed. Everyone came to our departure. They thanked us for defeating the Rathalos and gave us whatever supplies they could salvage from the ruined shops. We began leaving Torantess and began heading towards the town of Dondruma. It is said that one can find many supplies there and hopefully we can find a way to warn every one of the oncoming future of monsters. The war has begun...


	7. Chapter 7

-Chapter 7: Dondruma-

"-Yawn- Xan, when are we getting there?" Zakca complained.

"In a few hours. we don't have much to go," assured Nathaniel.

"What are we even supposed to do when we get there? What's so special in a city like Dondruma?" asked Zang.

"We can get the supplies there needed to capture and take down almost any monster." I informed, "plus there was a guild there, and if they still have any activity in there, we can use that to alert everyone that the monsters are back."

"-sigh- alright...Man, why are we the ones to do this?" Zang complained.

"Because we are the best the world has right now to defend against these creatures." I answered.

"THE WORLD! REALLY!" he asked astonished.

"I guess you can say that, yea." I said unsure. *Who knows how far the world goes, but whatever the world is to us is what we have to defend*

"Wow. Pressure," Zang said.

"Hahaha, yea. Let's just focus on spreading the word. we can't afford to lose anymore towns." I stated.

"Alright. Then, onward to Dondruma!" Zang announced pointing into the air like a dork.

For two hours we crossed over streams and canyons. We would find groups of Genprey and Bullfango, but every time we would fight them off and just continue on to our destination. We passed valleys and open fields, the more vegetation there was, the closer we were getting to the mountains, and the closer we got to the mountains, the closer we would be to the town. By now, we are at the foot of the mountain and we decided to take a break.

"AWW! COME ON! WE HAVE TO CLIMB THAT?" complained Zang.

"Yea, we do. Jeez, I didn't think anyone could complain more than Zakca." I stated

"Heeeey!" whined Zakca.

"See? there he goes again," I said and we all began to laugh.

We began our hike up the mountains a few moments later and throughout the whole way, Zang was complaining. But it was easy to ignore since he was the furthest behind and hardest to hear. The higher we went, the thicker the white fog would get, until it was impossible to see anymore.

"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SEE THROUGH ALL THIS FOG?" whined Zang.

"Just stay close and keep your eyes peeled for either the town or any creature," ordered Nathaniel

We did just that and continued on to the town. After a few minutes, we had finally found the entrance to Dondruma.

"WE'RE HERE! FINALLY!" exclaimed Zakca.

"Alright, let's start heading in and getting all the supplies." I said.

"Yea!" shouted everyone.

We began to buy all our supplies and I drifted off to rent us a room in an inn. After I got us a room, I tried to look for somewhere to upgrade my weapon. No luck. So I began asking around the town.

"Hey, do you know where I can improve my sword? H-hello? Can you help me?" I continuously asked, but got no response.

I had just about given up, until I saw a beautiful young girl. She had a large katana that seemed very new, maybe she knew someone that could help me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Sorry, don't have time to talk to travelers," she said.

"Ouch, cold shoulder. I just want to ask you something." I explained.

"I do not want to go on a date with you, if that is what you're asking." she said.

"Wha-! No! Haha, that was not what I was going to ask. I wanted to know if you knew where I could get my blade upgraded." I told.

"Hmph, Why would you need a sword upgraded? There are no monsters around anymore," she asked.

"Hm. Really? You don't seem to believe it, by carrying that katana." I stated.

"For all you know, I could be a collector," she insisted.

"Yea, I'm sure," I said sarcastically, "this is going nowhere, do you know anyone or not?"

"Yea, I do. This guy and his sister run a place up at the top of Dondruma." she answered, "Just tell him that

Moonwind sent you."

"Moonwind, huh?" I said, thinking *hm…her name suits her*

"Yea. Well, guess I'll see you around," Moonwind said, "Maybe I'll even be able to hunt with you soon"

She winked and left. She knew what I knew…that the war had begun and it's going to be a long time 'till it ends.

I began climbing steps, dodging civilians, and crossing streets until I finally arrived at the old weapons shop.

The word "weapon" was crossed out and replaced with "antique." The shop was filled with cracks, broken with age, and the remnant of the structure was misshapen in various ways. Keeping the building up were recently placed support beams and attempts of re-cementing.

I knocked twice on the hard, wooden door and waited for a few moments until a young well-built man came to the door. He was slightly pale with really loose brown hair and a strong face.

"Uhh. Hello. Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yea. Moonwind told me you can upgrade my weapon," I informed.

"Ah, Moonwind sent ya. Hmm...Well this blade seems pretty basic. Maybe my sister can figure something out," he said.

"Your sister? Aren't you the one that upgrades weapons?" I asked.

"I do, but I'm better at hammers, bowguns and lances. My sis does swords, dual blades, great blades and Katanas,"

he informed.

"Ah, nice." I said.

"Yea. Here, come in." he offered.

I entered his home and we sat down and talked. His name was Gunner and him and his friend who he called "Sis"

both lived in his uncle's old weapon shop, where him and Sis would sell the weapons his uncle used to.

"Hmm..." Gunner wondered.

"Hm? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Sis should be home by now...I'd hate to ask, but can you help me look for her?" he asked.

"Uh..sure. But why would you need my help to find her. Isn't she old enough to find her way back home?" I asked.

"Yea, but she's not too old to get herself into trouble anymore," he said looking down.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll help you look for her," I assured.

"Thanks. You don't know how much I appreciate this," he said.

I began my search by going to the darkest areas of the town. I was hoping I'd at least get some answers down there.

I looked through all the alleys and found nothing. When I was about to lose hope, I heard a muffled scream. I turned around the corner and looked into the alley and saw a man and his friend slamming a young girl onto a wooden crate.

"Someone didn't remember! Someone's going to pay!" the man shouted, covering the young girls mouth and holding a knife on his other hand. I knew where this was going and needed to stop it.

"Hey! Get away from her!" I shouted and charged at them.

His friend charged first and as he got closer, I noticed that they were both taller than me, but I knew I couldn't give up because of that. He threw the first punch, but I dodged and swiftly punched him in the stomach. Now he was my height and I could easily give him another blow. I turned around and nailed the back of his neck with my fist.

I knew he was already out, and now was time to face off against the main guy.

As I turned around, I saw he was ready to attack. It was too late to dodge and I took a hard blow to the side. I stumbled for a second, and quickly tried to recover. But the man had the right opportunity to attack again. He punched me in the face and I toppled over. He was ready to end this; he drew out his knife and dove for me. I swiftly jumped to my feet, dodged to the side, turned, drew my blade and stabbed backward. I removed my sword and knew what had just happened. But there was nothing else that could have been done.

I looked over to see if the girl was alright. All across her back and arms were cuts and scars of various shapes and sizes. I knew I needed to get her help, and fast. I picked her up and began to carry her back to Gunner's house. I looked down at her and saw she was still conscious.

"T-thank you..." she said.

"Come on. Don't give up. This isn't over yet." I said, giving her an assuring smile. She smiled back.

"I-i'm Ran..." she said as she was fainting.

I have a feeling something is awaiting us both in the future...


	8. Chapter 8

-Chapter 7: Dondruma-

"-Yawn- Xan, when are we getting there?" Zakca complained.

"In a few hours. we don't have much to go," assured Nathaniel.

"What are we even supposed to do when we get there? What's so special in a city like Dondruma?" asked Zang.

"We can get the supplies there needed to capture and take down almost any monster." I informed, "plus there was a guild there, and if they still have any activity in there, we can use that to alert everyone that the monsters are back."

"-sigh- alright...Man, why are we the ones to do this?" Zang complained.

"Because we are the best the world has right now to defend against these creatures." I answered.

"THE WORLD! REALLY!" he asked astonished.

"I guess you can say that, yea." I said unsure. *Who knows how far the world goes, but whatever the world is to us is what we have to defend*

"Wow. Pressure," Zang said.

"Hahaha, yea. Let's just focus on spreading the word. we can't afford to lose anymore towns." I stated.

"Alright. Then, onward to Dondruma!" Zang announced pointing into the air like a dork.

For two hours we crossed over streams and canyons. We would find groups of Genprey and Bullfango, but every time we would fight them off and just continue on to our destination. We passed valleys and open fields, the more vegetation there was, the closer we were getting to the mountains, and the closer we got to the mountains, the closer we would be to the town. By now, we are at the foot of the mountain and we decided to take a break.

"AWW! COME ON! WE HAVE TO CLIMB THAT?" complained Zang.

"Yea, we do. Jeez, I didn't think anyone could complain more than Zakca." I stated

"Heeeey!" whined Zakca.

"See? there he goes again," I said and we all began to laugh.

We began our hike up the mountains a few moments later and throughout the whole way, Zang was complaining. But it was easy to ignore since he was the furthest behind and hardest to hear. The higher we went, the thicker the white fog would get, until it was impossible to see anymore.

"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO SEE THROUGH ALL THIS FOG?" whined Zang.

"Just stay close and keep your eyes peeled for either the town or any creature," ordered Nathaniel

We did just that and continued on to the town. After a few minutes, we had finally found the entrance to Dondruma.

"WE'RE HERE! FINALLY!" exclaimed Zakca.

"Alright, let's start heading in and getting all the supplies." I said.

"Yea!" shouted everyone.

We began to buy all our supplies and I drifted off to rent us a room in an inn. After I got us a room, I tried to look for somewhere to upgrade my weapon. No luck. So I began asking around the town.

"Hey, do you know where I can improve my sword? H-hello? Can you help me?" I continuously asked, but got no response.

I had just about given up, until I saw a beautiful young girl. She had a large katana that seemed very new, maybe she knew someone that could help me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Sorry, don't have time to talk to travelers," she said.

"Ouch, cold shoulder. I just want to ask you something." I explained.

"I do not want to go on a date with you, if that is what you're asking." she said.

"Wha-! No! Haha, that was not what I was going to ask. I wanted to know if you knew where I could get my blade upgraded." I told.

"Hmph, Why would you need a sword upgraded? There are no monsters around anymore," she asked.

"Hm. Really? You don't seem to believe it, by carrying that katana." I stated.

"For all you know, I could be a collector," she insisted.

"Yea, I'm sure," I said sarcastically, "this is going nowhere, do you know anyone or not?"

"Yea, I do. This guy and his sister run a place up at the top of Dondruma." she answered, "Just tell him that

Moonwind sent you."

"Moonwind, huh?" I said, thinking *hm…her name suits her*

"Yea. Well, guess I'll see you around," Moonwind said, "Maybe I'll even be able to hunt with you soon"

She winked and left. She knew what I knew…that the war had begun and it's going to be a long time 'till it ends.

I began climbing steps, dodging civilians, and crossing streets until I finally arrived at the old weapons shop.

The word "weapon" was crossed out and replaced with "antique." The shop was filled with cracks, broken with age, and the remnant of the structure was misshapen in various ways. Keeping the building up were recently placed support beams and attempts of re-cementing.

I knocked twice on the hard, wooden door and waited for a few moments until a young well-built man came to the door. He was slightly pale with really loose brown hair and a strong face.

"Uhh. Hello. Can I help you?" he asked.

"Yea. Moonwind told me you can upgrade my weapon," I informed.

"Ah, Moonwind sent ya. Hmm...Well this blade seems pretty basic. Maybe my sister can figure something out," he said.

"Your sister? Aren't you the one that upgrades weapons?" I asked.

"I do, but I'm better at hammers, bowguns and lances. My sis does swords, dual blades, great blades and Katanas,"

he informed.

"Ah, nice." I said.

"Yea. Here, come in." he offered.

I entered his home and we sat down and talked. His name was Gunner and him and his friend who he called "Sis"

both lived in his uncle's old weapon shop, where him and Sis would sell the weapons his uncle used to.

"Hmm..." Gunner wondered.

"Hm? What's wrong?" I asked.

"Sis should be home by now...I'd hate to ask, but can you help me look for her?" he asked.

"Uh..sure. But why would you need my help to find her. Isn't she old enough to find her way back home?" I asked.

"Yea, but she's not too old to get herself into trouble anymore," he said looking down.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'll help you look for her," I assured.

"Thanks. You don't know how much I appreciate this," he said.

I began my search by going to the darkest areas of the town. I was hoping I'd at least get some answers down there.

I looked through all the alleys and found nothing. When I was about to lose hope, I heard a muffled scream. I turned around the corner and looked into the alley and saw a man and his friend slamming a young girl onto a wooden crate.

"Someone didn't remember! Someone's going to pay!" the man shouted, covering the young girls mouth and holding a knife on his other hand. I knew where this was going and needed to stop it.

"Hey! Get away from her!" I shouted and charged at them.

His friend charged first and as he got closer, I noticed that they were both taller than me, but I knew I couldn't give up because of that. He threw the first punch, but I dodged and swiftly punched him in the stomach. Now he was my height and I could easily give him another blow. I turned around and nailed the back of his neck with my fist.

I knew he was already out, and now was time to face off against the main guy.

As I turned around, I saw he was ready to attack. It was too late to dodge and I took a hard blow to the side. I stumbled for a second, and quickly tried to recover. But the man had the right opportunity to attack again. He punched me in the face and I toppled over. He was ready to end this; he drew out his knife and dove for me. I swiftly jumped to my feet, dodged to the side, turned, drew my blade and stabbed backward. I removed my sword and knew what had just happened. But there was nothing else that could have been done.

I looked over to see if the girl was alright. All across her back and arms were cuts and scars of various shapes and sizes. I knew I needed to get her help, and fast. I picked her up and began to carry her back to Gunner's house. I looked down at her and saw she was still conscious.

"T-thank you..." she said.

"Come on. Don't give up. This isn't over yet." I said, giving her an assuring smile. She smiled back.

"I-i'm Ran..." she said as she was fainting.

I have a feeling something is awaiting us both in the future...


	9. Chapter 9

-Chapter 9 New Freedom-

"Awww. Such a precious moment. I hope we're not interrupting anything," said Zang smugly.

I looked up and Zang, Zakca and Gunner were standing in the doorway looking down at Ran and I, who were lying down. Ran was sleeping with her face against my chest, still sleeping peacefully. I carefully and silently slipped

from under her and gently laid her back down and walked towards Zakca, Zang and Gunner.

"Alright, what's going on?" I asked.

"The guild has been alerted and will now send out messages to other guilds, warning them as well," answered Zakca.

"Alright, that's good," I said.

"Yea, they said that they needed to speak with us again in the morning, so we might want to start heading out

now," informed Zang.

"Okay. Then let's get a move on it." I said.

We started out the door when Gunner pulled me back.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" he asked.

"Yea, of course. What do you need?" I said.

"I need to thank you for all you've done to help Ran" he started, "Any upgrades you need on your weapons, I will be honored to do free of charge."

"Wow, thanks." I said.

"Yea, don't hesitate to ask," he offered. We began heading out the door when he turned back to me, "Oh, and after what has happened, Ran needs to have real friends, and I hope you guys will keep in contact with us."

"Yea, of course. Maybe I'll get myself a messenger hawk at the market on my way to the guild and back," I assured him.

"Alright. I wish you the best of luck on your journey," he said.

"Thank you. I hope to see you guys soon." I said as I departed.

"Alright then," he said.

I nodded. "Oh, when Ran wakes up, tell her I said bye."

"Will do." he assured me.

It took us fifteen minutes to make it to the guild, where the village elder was patiently waiting for us. The guild was a large wooden building with a majestic structure. Closer examination showed more cracks and rotting wood. I knew this place had to be re-done, and hopefully soon.

"Hello, young warriors," greeted the village elder, "My name is Shon, I am the leader of Dondruma. This here, standing next to me, is authority leader, Sargent Coar."

The second I saw the Sargent, my heart began to race. I didn't know if the elder had known what I have done. Right now, I just wanted to finish our business and get out before anything happened.

"So, I hear the monsters are back, am I right?" Shon asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"And one has already attacked the town of Torantess?" he asked again.

"Yes," answered Zang.

"And you want me to alert all other guilds?" he asked again.

"Yes," answered Zakca.

"Hmph...Well, I won't." Shon said.

"WHAT?" exclaimed Zang. "WHY NOT?"

"Because, young man. I can't just believe the word of a couple of young hooligans and cause public panic for nothing. I can't believe you young fellas because the monsters have been extinct for years and now they suddenly appeared again?" he argued.

"DAMNIT OLD MAN! WHY DON'T YOU LISTEN?" snapped Zang, "WHY WOULD I EVER LIE ABOUT MY TOWN BEING BURNED DOWN?"

"No need to snap, young man," responded Shon, "If you had better proof, I might consider helping you."

In that instant, Nathaniel came through the door and stood in front of Shon.

"Sir, what these boys are telling you is one hundred percent true, you must believe us," Nathaniel began.

Nathaniel and Shon continued their conversation. Every time Shon would argue against Nathaniel, Nathaniel would pull out something from his pouch, such as a claw, fang or scale from the Rathalos we fought, proving that they had truly come back. Victoriously, Nathaniel came out on top and Shon sent his messenger hawks to all the leading

and strongest guilds. Within days, the message would be spread everywhere and the war to keep humanity alive could begin.

We were all in it together. Whether we fight and live, or fight and die trying. Only the future held the answer...


	10. Chapter 10

-Chapter 10 Following the Right Path-

After our trip to the guild, Zang, Zakca and I decided to shop around for a bit. We still didn't know what we were to do now that our mission was over. Zang didn't have much to go to and neither did I. Only Zakca had something worth getting back to, but he still hadn't made up his mind whether he'd go or stay.

"Hey, guys. I don't know if I'm going to stay or not, but for now, let's try to do something as friends. Hey, let's go buy new armor and go on a tough mission. Maybe fight a Gypceros or something we can find. I'm sure Zang's tracking book should help us find something." offered Zakca. I guess he was probably thinking in going back home.

"Alright," I agreed solemnly.

"Okay," agreed Zang.

"Hey, I'm sure Shon knows somewhere we can get armor." I suggested.

"Yea, let's go ask him." insisted Zakca.

We began heading back to the guild from the market. On the way there, I saw some guys selling some hawks.

"Hey guys, wait bit," I said, then turned back to the vendor, "Excuse me, but how much are you selling your hawks for?"

"HAWK! We sell for...hmm...ehhh...1000z?" he answered.

"1000?" I said surprised. "uuh, no thank you."

"Hey! Friend, I sell to you at good price, they no cheaper anywhere else," he insisted.

I began to just walk away and thinking to myself *wow, how am I going to get a hawk? I could always ask Zakca for money, but that's kind of messed up. Especially now...guess I'm going to have to find another way of getting a hawk.*

Several minutes later and we made it to the guild. There standing next to the small wrinkly man of an elder was no taller than I was, athletic body, and looked somewhat muscular, but I think that was more of his armor. This man was wearing a Rathalos armor set. There's only one way that he was able to get an armor set like that this soon. His dad must have been a hunter and given him his armor. There's no way that would be one of the original hunters, Old hunters must be way too old to hunt again. I walked up to the two so I can ask about where to get armor.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Shon, do you know where we can get some armor?" I asked.

Without missing a beat, the other man answered. "There's a place on the Northern part of town. That's where I got

my armor reinforced. Age really did a number on this suit. I needed a lot of Earth Crystal to bring back this old thing"

"Ah, ok. Thanks," I said.

"Yea. Anytime. Oh, I'm Knyku, by the way." he introduced.

"I'm Xan." I said.

"I'm Zakca."

"I'm Zang."

"That's cool. It's good to meet you all." Knyku said.

"Likewise," I responded, "I guess we'll see you around."

"Alright. If you need anything else, just ask." he said.

"Yea...hm...Would you happen to know where to get a hawk for cheap?" I asked.

"Sorry, nope." answered Knyku.

"Ah, well I do," answered Shon and gave out a sharp whistle. Seconds later a young hawk flew over to Shon's shoulder. "Now, he's not very old or experienced, but I'm sure he'll be good for you."

"Oh, really? Thank you." I said. I was amazed he was just giving him to me. Oh well, best not to question luck.

We began heading to the armor shop that Knyku had mentioned. It took us a while to finally find the shop and I guess it had just reopened because the guild had told it what was going on. Hopefully they had decent armor there that we could use.

We entered the shop and the person behind the counter was a young girl that didn't even seem to care that someone had just entered the shop. She just continued to read a book she was holding, and every once in a while, she would move a small pot with felvine in it, as if trying to center it on the desk perfectly.

"Uh, hello. We would like to buy some armor. Where do we go to see the armors?" I asked.

"What you see is what we have. At least for now… Just take a look around and tell me if you find anything you like. Okay?" she said slightly glum.

We took a look around and I found some shoulder pads, chain vest to go under my coat and some gloves. Zakca found

a Hunter chest piece combination with shoulder pads as well as knee pads. Then Zang found a full Rathian chest and arm piece combination as well as some boots and a chain belt. We were all set. We went back up to the counter to pay for it all.

"Alright, we're done. How much do we owe you?" asked Zakca.

"Hmmmm...2000z" said the girl.

"Alright," said Zakca. Then he pulled out 2000 Zenny so casually, as if he was pulling out change and gave it to the girl. Then he goes back to his pocket and pulls out another 1000 Zenny and gives it to her.

She looked at him surprised and confused.

"You look a bit down. I can't do much, but I hope you can buy yourself something that makes you feel a bit better. Enjoy it, okay?" said Zakca.

"T-thank you..." she said speechless. "I-if you guys ever need anything, comeback again. Alright?"

"Alright," assured Zakca.

"My name is Kindred, and yours?" she asked.

"I'm Zakca," said Zakca. We all introduced ourselves then departed. Looks like we're making a lot of friends here...


	11. Chapter 11

-Chapter 11 Great Departure-

"Looks like I'm going back home with Nathaniel," Zakca said with a heavy sigh.

"It's alright. We'll keep in contact and maybe we'll come visit," I suggested.

"That would be cool," said Zang, "I can't wait."

"Alright. Well, let us at least get this last mission done," Zakca started, "so what are we going up against?"

"This area is in the mountains, so we are most likely to find Khezu, Basarios, and possibly Kut-ku if we go down to the foot of the mountain."

"The Kut-ku seems easiest," said Zang, "let's go after it."

We all agreed and started heading out of town, and down to the foot of the mountain. It took us no less than a half hour to reach a decent spot where Kut-ku appears. The Kut-ku normally is a very rare creature to find, but Zang's booklet showed us the main areas to find them. Such as in caves, wet areas and very green areas.

"Hey, when we were coming down, I saw a lake in the valley over there. Maybe there's a Kut-ku over there," I suggested.

"Alright. Then let's start heading that way," said Zakca.

Through thick trees, vines, and the occasional bullfango, we finally made it to the lake. While we were walking towards the lake, we were laughing our heads off.

"Hahahaha! I can't believe that bullfango caught you off guard! You flew strait into that vespoid nest." remarked Zakca to Zang.

"Shut up! It wasn't that funny," snapped Zang.

"Haha, yes it was Zang, stop complaining," I added.

"Hahaha, fine, whatever. Let's see how funny it is when it's one of you getting hurt like that," Zang said with a smirk.

Strangely enough, the lake was very still and silent. Something seemed very off. We got into the lake to get a drink of water.

"Oh no! Zang is polluti-UUUGHHH!" I began before something had come out of the water and knocked me to the side.

"ZANG! RUN!" shouted Zakca.

Everything seemed to be going much slower. The water drops flying everywhere seemed to be crystalized tear drops as they floated across the air. The extremely large shadow hovering over me seemed to be still in the air as if it would drop on me at any moment.

The large figure dropped hard on the floor and slithered across the floor. Its large blue scales glistened in the sunlight. Its top fin seemed to be reaching for the sky. Its fangs were sharper than the edge of any knife. I knew that our opponent was a Plesioth; a wyvern that dwelled in the waters and attacked any wandering creature near the water. I remember my father writing something about this creature in his journal.

The goliath monster stood up on its two legs and stared at us with its white and lifeless eyes. We were all scattered and on the ground and practically open to any of its attacks. And the Plesioth seemed to be more interested in me and began its attack. Instantly I rolled to the side, in case of anything. The Plesioth shot out a incredibly fast Jetstream of water. The shot seemed to completely obliterate the ground it made contact with.

Zang and Zakca stood up and charged the monster, but their attack failed due to the Plesioth's quick reflexes.

The Plesioth performed a tail whip that sent the two flying. I stood up and began to charge it when the Plesioth

shot another Jetstream of water that blew up the ground behind me.

"We can't get anywhere near this thing!" shouted Zang.

"Really! I didn't know!" shouted back Zakca.

"We got to figure out something! I'll try to distract it!" I shouted.

The Plesioth shot quick shots of water; I kept dodging to the sides to avoid getting hit. I was nearing its face, attempting to get a good slash at his eyes to blind him temporarily so we had a better chance of attacking. That plan turned out to be a failure when I was directly shot in the chest. I flew back into the lake. For that moment, everything was at peace, no sound, just sudden calmness. I quickly swam up to the surface, desperate for air. Now surfaced, I scanned the land for my comrades and my opponent. The Plesioth was completely distracted by Zakca and Zang. Zang was a bit more fortunate than Zakca in getting hits on the Plesioth. Fortunately Zang was able to get in some blasts with his Iron Gunlance and while the Plesioth was distracted with Zang, Zakca was able to get some slashes at its legs with his Carbalite greatsword.

I swam to the beach as fast as I could to try to help out Zakca and Zang. When I finally reached shore, the Plesioth was in mid turn towards Zakca but I saw an opportunity for an attack. I leaped on his head and began running to its back. I immediately grabbed his top fin to keep balance and stabbed my Odyssey sword in its back. The

Plesioth fell with a large thud.

All seemed finished, but as Zang closed up to it. The Plesioth jumped up and into the water and began to swim in the lake. It seemed as if it was going to take me to its lair, until I heard an explosion behind me.

Something had hit the Plesioth. Whatever it was, extremely startled the Plesioth and caused it to head toward shore.

Still clinging on for dear life on the back of the Plesioth, I saw what had caused that explosion.

Ran was standing on a large rock formation with a heavy bowgun. She aimed carefully and blasted a pierce shot through the Plesioth's skull; causing instant death. It seemed Ran had returned the favor.


	12. Chapter 12

-Chapter 12: It's not goodbye, it's see you later-

We were very fortunate that Ran had come by and saved us...or rather, helped us out. On our way back to town, she said it was because she never got a chance to say goodbye and wanted to come and find us. She got to experience her first monster hunt, and she seemed to really enjoy the thrill of it. Maybe she'll be part of our team one day...

It was now time for Zakca to depart. Him and Nathaniel were next to their Aptonoth, ready to leave. Of course Ran was next to it as well, petting it and saying how cute it was. That was the only thing making Zakca's departure the slightest bit less saddening.

We were all sad to see Zakca go, though it wouldn't be forever, we still didn't know how long it would be until we saw each other again. Zakca knew how we felt and saw it in our eyes...well except Ran, I think she's in her own little world right now with the Aptonoth, but nonetheless, he still knew we weren't too happy to see him leave.

"Don't worry about it Xan, we'll see each other again," Zakca assured and reached out his hand. I grabbed his hand and shook it, knowing that what he was saying is true.

"Don't you dare forget about us!" threatened Zang with a smirk, "or I'm gonna have to come after you!"

"No worries," Zakca assured and walked over to Gunner, "It's good to have met you, and I hope you we meet again as well."

"Likewise," said Gunner, smiling. Zakca started to go back to his Aptonoth when Ran tackled him.

"BYYEEEE!" Ran exclaimed. Zakca began laughing.

"Bye, I'm glad to have met you too and thanks for earlier," Zakca said.

"You're welcome. It was fun. Sorry about the tackle, it was necessary," Ran said with a large smile.

"So long everyone!" shouted Nathaniel as they began heading back home.

We stayed and watched them leave until Zakca, Nathaniel, and his Aptonoth were no longer visible. We began to head back to Ran and Gunner's shop so Zang and I can figure out what to do next. We made it back to the old shop and Gunner started up the fire for us. Zang sat on a wooden chair while I sat down on the wooden bench. We sat there staring at the fire while Gunner and Ran went upstairs to look for some blankets for Zang and I to spend the night.

"What are we going to do?" Zang began, "it's not like we have many places to go or anything to do."

"I know," I agreed. We sat there for a few minutes, staring at the fire again, as if waiting for the fire to tell us what to do.

Just then, I turned to my side and saw my father's journal on the ground. I figured that it must have fallen when I fell asleep here reading it to Ran. I picked it up and looked at it for a couple seconds. Then I opened the book and looked at the words my father had written there after all his adventures.

"Hey!" shouted Zang, "Why don't we become bounty hunters? Beat down any monster terrorizing towns and collect the money, maybe we can get ourselves better weapons and armor."

"Hmm.." I thought briefly. Maybe I can do as my parents wanted...become their legacy... "Alright Zang. We can do that. Maybe we'll find new people on the way that can help us out.

"Yea! WOHOO! My idea's a keeper!" Zang exclaimed with a big grin on his face. I couldn't help but laugh a bit.

"Calm down, haha," I said with a smile. "Hmm..I wonder how much they'd pay for a monster."

"Guess it depends on which it is and what it's doing, right?" Zang answered.

"I suppose." I replied.

"Yea, and if you two need any help, I'll be right there with you!" exclaimed Ran from the doorway.

"Really?" I asked.

"Of course! After all you've helped me with; I'd be more than honored to help." Ran assured us.

I really wanted to take her offer, but she still didn't know how to fight well. That snipe on the Plesioth was very impressive, and I know that she'll be a great fighter, but I don't want to risk her getting hurt out there. This was a tough decision, but I knew what I needed to do.

"I'm glad you're willing to help us Ran, I really am, but I don't want you getting hurt. So I think it would be best that you stay here and train a bit until you improve your fighting skills." I said with a heavy heart.

"But, I know I can fight, and I want to help you guys, I really do." Ran argued.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want you to get hurt," I said.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be ok. Just let me go with you," Ran continued.

"I do worry about you Ran and I won't let you come with us until your fighting has improved," I said.

Angrily, she grabbed dual blades from an old weapon's rack in the corner of the room.

"Then face me, I'll show you how good I am," she challenged. Zang gave me a strange look, as if asking if I was going to accept the challenge.

"Alright, I will," I accepted, picking up my sword.

We went outside to the back of the shop where there was a small empty lot. Zang made a circle in the dirt with an old spear from the shop. Ran and I stood on opposite ends of the circle and picked up our swords. I had no idea how I was going to fight with my odyssey sword when she has her iron daggers, but I knew that I had to prove my point and defeat her so she can stay here and train a bit more.

"Alright...GO!" shouted Zang, beginning the match.

Ran made the first move by dashing at me and swinging her left blade. Naturally, I blocked it with my sword, but forgot she still had her other blade I had to worry about as well. I turned and saw it heading for me. I released the block and dodge to the side, avoiding both blades. I recovered, but by the time I turned back to her, she was already swinging at be with both swords rapidly. One after another, I blocked every slice, avoiding any possible risk of getting hit. She seemed determined enough that she would never stop slicing. Sparks were flying from the impact of the swords colliding, as well as making a loud ring.

I needed to find an open opportunity to attack back. But as quick as she was, I didn't see that happening anytime soon. She was very consistent, but I finally saw an opportunity to attack. Her left blade sliced a little late and I was able to dodge and hit her wrist lightly enough with the blunt end of my sword, just hard enough to knock the blade out of her hand.

"GAH!" she shouted in pain and dropped her sword.

Almost instantly, she came back at me with her other sword. I blocked it, and spun my blade around hers until I was able to twist it with her sword and fling it out of her grasp. Everything seemed to go in slow motion and I could see her looking at her sword in the air. I quickly dropped mine and grabbed her neck and tackled her down.

"If I were any monster, I would be eating your throat right now...you still need practice. I'm sorry," I said, releasing her, and helping her up.

"Alright, I do need training, but will you promise me one thing?" Ran asked.

"Yea?" I answered.

"When I finish my training, do you promise I can join you on your missions?" she asked.

"Of course," I promised.

"Yay," she said with a smile and hugged me. I felt bad and good at the same time, but it was for her safety, so I knew I was doing the right thing by making her stay and train a bit more.

We all went to bed that night, feeling as if things were looking up, though our friend departed. Like Zakca said to me a few seconds before he left: "This is not a goodbye, It's just a see you later..."


	13. Chapter 13

-Chapter 13: The Stalking Shadow-

The next morning, we all said our goodbyes and departed. Gunner promised me he would take care of Ran and I promised him I would keep in contact with Ran by using my messenger hawk, which I decided to name Shadow because of his sleek, dark feathers that made him a shadow in the sky. I knew that we would come back again to see them; I couldn't just leave a friend. Before I left, Ran gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek and told me to keep my promise to her: when she finished her training, that she could join us. I will never forget it...

Two years passed…

All was fine, Zang and I were the top hunters throughout all the guilds, we made great amounts of money, which I was planning on using for Ran's first armor and weapons when she completed her training, which shouldn't be much longer. I was gonna surprise her by visiting her on her eighteenth birthday with her new armor and weapon and announce to her that she was done with her training and could join us. Zang greatly enjoyed the life of a hunter, but tended to get himself in a lot of trouble when it came to girls. We couldn't go to one tavern without him asking out one of the girls there.

Unfortunately, however, the number of monsters has greatly increased; including some new creatures that have never been recorded throughout these lands. These second generations of monsters were leaking from northern parts around Pokke. Zang and I only heard of these creatures, we have yet to experience a battle with either of them or even catch a glimpse of them, for that matter. The guild asked us to investigate these new threats, as well as where and why they have appeared. We were going to be paid one million zenny for this mission to be completed. Compared to Zang and I's average five thousand zenny, that money would be a great amount of help for my cause. As for Zang, he's just hoping to find a girl out there somewhere and save his money for a house after he retires monster hunting. His dream is great, and I wish I were able to share it, but I can't. My dream is to find out more of my parents and how they perished, if they perished at all. Throughout these last two years, I've been searching more information of my parents. What I have gathered is very little, but there is still a chance of them living. Guild elders just say that they disappeared, no certainty of death.

I'm hoping to become their legacy and hopefully find the truth. Zang believes I should just try to live my own life, rather than searching and living theirs, but I can't, it's something he can't understand. Though his uncle died some time back, he at least knew him. His parents are still alive, so he can't understand that either.

"SCCREEEEEEEE"

"Hm? Looks like Shadow's back with another love note from Ran," Zang said grinning.

"Shut up. They're not love notes," I snapped.

"Heh, yea whatever, I know what I see," he said, still smiling.

Shadow landed on my shoulder. I held out my arm so he could stand on that instead, so it would be easier to remove the letter. I opened up the small message and it read: Xan, how is everything going? I miss you guys. I learned new moves and am getting better with dual blades. Oh and Gunner says hi. Ever since you guys spread the word of new monsters, we have been getting much more business here. Our weapons have been getting better too; I just wish I could keep the swords I modify though. Well, right back soon, Good luck. -Ran P.S. Zakca sent me a message a few days ago saying that he's coming for my birthday and has something big to show us. I'll tell you what it is when I see it, okay? I wish things weren't so chaotic so you could come to my birthday. Oh well. Bye

"Hm, looks like we're gonna see Zakca at Ran's birthday celebration," I informed.

"Really? That's great. All of us together again," Zang said hopefully, "Well let's hurry up to this thing so we can get a start on heading back to Dondruma."

"Hmph," I nodded in agreement.

Zang and I were headed toward the guild in a small village called Contra. It is said that is the furthest the new monsters have spread and the town needs a defense of hunters while they construct walls and defenses around the village. It sounded pretty easy. The construction would take about a week, or whatever is left to do. They began construction many years back before monsters were thought to be extinct, but once they disappeared, they stopped construction because they didn't think they would need the defense. Now they wish they had it done that long time ago. Oh well, they weren't that far from completing it anyway. Should be an easy job...but I shouldn't judge things too early, I never know if things will turn for the worst...


	14. Chapter 14

-Chapter 14: Lurking Elder-

What I noticed from studying the maps of Contra and its surrounding areas. What was good about Contra was that it was at the end of the Himeroon Mountains, which are directly connected to Dondruma, making it easier to get to Ran and Gunner after this mission. Zang and I upgraded our weapons in a great town called Jumbo. There were many great places there as well as shops. I was able to get my old Odyssey sword upgraded into a one-of-a-kind blade. The man felt so proud of himself when he finished it, but still gave me the ability to choose the name for the blade. I decided to call it Wolf's Odyssey because the blacksmith made gut hooks into the blunt side of the sword, making it look like the lower jaw of a wolf. This sword was much slender and durable, and sharper than ever. It could easily cut through rock, perfect for fighting a Basarios. Zang's new upgraded weapon was the Imperial gunlance as well as reinforcement on his dagger. The whole dagger was given another layer, entirely made out of Nova Crystal, giving it an extra electric effect.

I was ecstatic to see Ran again and see all the improvement she's done in her fighting skills. Zang was just happy to see that we would all be together again after so long, as well as to show off his new armor and weapons. After the first year away, Zang was able to complete and renew his Rathian armor.

"Dang, this week is gonna go by slow, huh?" asked Zang munching on some tropical berries.

"Heh, yea. At least it won't be long after that until we see everyone again," I assured.

"Well Xan, we'd better get some rest. Tomorrow is when the mission starts," he said.

"Yea, I'll go to sleep in a bit. I just wanna be out here a bit longer," I said.

"Alright. Goodnight," he said and walked off into the room behind us.

We were in an inn that the town let us stay in. We got two rooms that had a balcony so we can watch out just in case anything were to try to come at night. I was just hoping nothing would. Tonight, things seemed a bit odd. As if something was wrong or there was going to be some big event. I didn't really know how to explain it, but staring into the stars seemed to suppress that feeling.

Tonight the moon was beautiful, round and full. It floated in the mass of space in the sky accompanied by a multitude of stars, shining with endless light. Every star a magnificent wonder with its own past that made it what it is today; a past that I couldn't have. Unlike the star, I have no idea where I came from, just that I'm the son of great hunters. The rest were either lies or forgotten memories. But just as the star shines, so will I, though I don't know exactly where I came from, I at least know what I must do. I must continue my parents' legacy and make something of myself; because without purpose, I am nothing.

In that moment, a shooting star soared across the darkened sky that was being slightly illuminated by the stars and moon. I wished to see Ran again and to keep living until she is safe and happy. I don't know what kind of creatures I'm going to face, so I'm going to need the best of luck.

I yawned and knew I needed to get my rest. This was going to be a long week...

Day one was pretty quiet. We saw and fought a few velociprey that were most likely scouts for a drome, but luckily we defeated them all before any could go back. Something was strange about these velociprey though. They seemed to be turning white...I wonder what that meant...

Day two is when we began to get some excitement. Two Velocidromes came in with a large herd of smaller velociprey.

Zang saw it as a decent workout, considering he blasted all the velociprey away with his gunlance while I slashed and killed the two dromes. We really didn't like how much space we had to fight in. We had a few yards in all directions, and right behind us was a large wooden gate that blocked out everything, including us, giving us no place to go in case of a need for retreat.

Day three was for the quietest part. Later that night we heard strange sounds coming in from the giant path cut into the mountains. But nothing came out that night. It wasn't until day four when we found out what was making that sound. It was cloudy out and would rain randomly throughout the day. Many large puddles were created out here which seemed to attract one of the newer creatures we have yet to face.

"Gah! I hate the rai-ACHOO!" complained Zang.

"Yea, but come on, we gotta keep a lookout in case of anything." I said.

"Alright, alright," agreed Zang, "hey, what's that?"

He pointed down at what seemed to be a cluster of small bugs.

"It's just a bunch of bugs," I said.

"I know, but why are they all gathered like that?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe they feel something underground. Maybe their food," I guessed.

BOOM!

A large explosion seemed to have come from behind us. We quickly turned around. We saw nothing there except what seemed to be a bundle of disturbed earth.

"What the hell was that?" shouted Zang.

"Calm down, we'll see soon enough," I said.

BOOM!

There was another explosion behind us again, this time closer. We turned again and saw nothing but disturbed earth. The earth began to shake below us and I knew that this couldn't be good. But before i could react, a menacing face came up from below us and blew Zang and I away. I landed on my side a few feet away while Zang was rolling only a yard away.

When I was able to focus on what hit us, it seemed that it was a Monoblos. More frightening than that was that it was staring right at me. But upon close inspection, I could see that it was only the skull of a Monoblos. But...what was it on?

I walked around it and saw a large and red crustacean picking at the bundle of bugs. I haven't noticed us yet. It was probably more concerned for its food rather than two humans. I saw the surprise in Zang's eyes when I turned to him. I lifted my hand and gave him the signal to begin our attack. We still didn't know what this creature was capable of, but we couldn't let it become a threat.

Zang snuck around out of view of the crab and began to charge the blast in his gunlance. I drew my sword and stood ready to begin my attack as well.

BOOOOOOMMM!

Zang's blast was strong enough to push the crab towards me, but the creature seemed strong enough to withstand that blast.

His shell must be really hard. That proved to be right, I slashed at it several times, and every time was a failure. Its shell was too hard for me to break through. After dealing with the recoil of my hit, I was unable to block, leaving me open to any of its attacks. Instantly, the crab brushed me away with its claw, sending me back a few yards. Seeing me as the weaker target, it came to me to try to defeat me. Zang was behind it, trying to reload his gunlance. The crab came in fast and I was able to dodge its swipe with its claw, but didn't expect it to grab me.

I was feeling pressure around my waist. It was trying to cut me in half. I was trapped, unable to move. I saw Zang running towards us, ready to distract the crab or at least make him let go, but instead, the crab saw his attempt to liberate me, and blasted him away with a jet of water. Zang was knocked back several feet way.

I don't know how I'm going to make it out of this…

I struggled to free myself or get anywhere near getting free. I completely thought this was the end because of the increase of pressure in the crab's grip.

"Come on, you two are seriously having trouble with a Daimyo Hermataur? How sad." said an unknown voice.

"HYEEEAAAA!"

Suddenly the Hermataur's grip weakened and I was able to break free. I fell to the floor, landing hard on my back.

I stumbled back to my feet and recovered my sword. I turned back to see what was happening. It was Knyku who had rescued me; sporting the same Rathalos armor as two years ago, but with a rather new katana.

He was rapidly swinging his katana at the Hermataur and seemed to be doing heavy damage. One slice after another, fragments of shell were flying off the Hermataur in clumps. Sparks flew as the blade came in contact with the surface of the hard shell, making a flash of bright light.

The Hermataur collapsed onto the floor with a large thud. Struggling to keep alive, the Hermataur made a digging movement, as if trying to escape. Knyku lifted his katana and made a final slash across the Hermataur's face.

"Hmph, see? Wasn't that easy?" he said.

"For you maybe, this is the first time we've fought it," informed Zang.

"Excuses, excuses," mocked Knyku.

"Hey! W-" started Zang when I nudged him to give it a rest.

"Thanks for the save, anyway. What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in two years," I asked while Zang glared.

"I'm doing the same as you are, protecting the town while they fix up the place," he answered.

"At least we have some help now," I said.

"Yup. Well let's prepare in case anything else comes up," he said.

"Alright," I agreed.

Nothing came day five or six. Our mission seemed just about done. Zang thought our mission was over so he began packing his stuff at noon on day seven. Knyku seemed a bit edgy. At this point, I didn't know what to expect. I was more worried about getting to Dondruma than about what we might encounter.

It seemed that Zang was right, that was the end of the mission. All was needed now was to get our pay and go home. That night, Zang, Knyku and I went to the town leader of Contra to get our pay. This mission was going to reward us seventy-five hundred Zenny each. That was enough for me to finish paying off Ran's armor. I whistled to call Shadow. He arrived after a few moments and landed on my forearm, allowing me to tie the payment on his leg so he can send it to the weapon and armor maker. I also put on the request to send the armor and swords to Dondruma's package office in the guild's tavern.

We spent our last night in the inn and waited to depart in the morning to Dondruma. We were finally going to get some well-deserved rest.

When I awoke, I heard screaming...it sounded...familiar. I opened my eyes and I was on the floor, with my armor torn to pieces and the sky darker than mouth of the deepest and most haunting cave. I could feel the earth shaking and bouncing in an odd rhythm...as if something was walking towards me, getting stronger every moment. I slowly turned behind me and saw Ran, Zakca and Zang running towards me, shouting my name and pointing at something ahead of me. They drew their weapons and continued running. The next thing I knew, they were blown away by an enormous blast from the sky. They all flew several feet. Ran tried to crawl to me and pointed at something again. I finally looked to what it was. But before I could see what it was, a large fireball was coming at me.

"XXAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!"

I woke up in cold sweat, heart beating like a drum and eyes wide open. I had no idea what was going on, but the screams in my dream were those of real people outside. I will never forget that enormous shadow and the yellow eyes watching me before the fireball came close...

"XAN!" shouted Zang bursting through the door, "The town is being attacked by a humongous monster! It's destroying the defenses!"

Immediately, I ran outside to see if I could spot anything. From the balcony, all I could see large red spikes coming from the gate. Suddenly, the massive creature stood up, and I saw the massive creature destroy the gate in one large blow. The gates were torn open, the wood was splintered and the rock turned to rubble. This was bad, if it got through the town, then its next target will be Dondruma. I can't let that happen. We must stop it before it gets there. But how do you kill something so massive?...


	15. Chapter 15

-Chapter 15: Lao-Shan Lung-

Rapidly I put on my armor and grabbed my sword. Zang, Knyku and I sprinted to the creature. We jumped over barrels and tore through crowds. We couldn't waste any time.

"What the hell is this thing?" shouted Zang.

"I don't know. We'll get a better idea when we get closer!" replied Knyku.

"Let's just hope that we can bring it down before it tears up this town!" I shouted.

We ran faster and as we got closer, we could see the destroyed buildings and shattered food stands. As we neared the monster, we could feel the rumbling from every step it took. Finally we reached it, and the instant we did, we couldn't help but feel intimidated.

It was a large lizard-looking creature that was as long as a river and as powerful as a meteor. It's red, shell-like scales seemed to pierce the clouded skies. Its deep blue eyes seemed to pierce your own, giving you a sense of despair. Its mouth was so large that it seemed like it could completely swallow an aptonoth or two.

"What in the world is that?" questioned Zang, staring at the monstrosity.

"I-it's a Lao-Shan Lung…it's supposed to be one of the most ancient of creatures. They can live for hundreds of years," Knyku informed.

"You're telling me that this thing has been living for hundreds of years and no one has ever found it?" I shouted.

"Apparently someone did," said Knyku and pointed at an old, rusty blade that has been stabbed through the titan's shell.

"Hopefully we have better luck than that guy," Zang remarked.

"Alright, let's stop talking, we can't let it get through the town," I said.

"We have to KILL this thing?" Zang asked.

"No, we're going to have a tea party with it!" snapped Knyku and smacked Zang on the back of the head.

"Ow! You as—"

"Shut up and let's go!" I ordered.

We began recklessly attacking it. One slash after another, constant blasts and continuous slashes. Nothing seemed to be doing anything to it. All our attacks were nullified to it. We began slashing at its face and stomach and whatever else we could. We seemed to be doing more damage to it now that we found its weak spots.

"Plant some bombs!" shouted Knyku.

Zang whistled and a felyne scurried over and handed him bombs. He had to keep calling nearby felynes to come and give us supplies so we could continue attacking the Lao-Shan. Bombs only did so much damage. It wasn't enough to stun the great beast.

"I'm getting tired of this guy!" shouted Zang in frustration.

BOOOOM!

Zang blasted the Lao-Shan's foot and it was enough to make him trip and fall. Almost being crushed by the titan's falling head, I dodged out of the way to safety.

"You gotta pay attention or you're gonna get killed one of these days," commented Knyku.

"Thank you for those motivational words of advice," I replied sarcastically.

"Anytime," he shouted back with a laugh.

Left completely open by Zang's blast, the Lao-Shan laid there helpless while we began to unleash all we had. Combination after combination, we gave the Lao-Shan no chance to recover.

ROOOOOAAAAAAHHHHRRRRR!

The Lao-Shan had a terrible roar that sent us flying back, giving him the opportunity to stand back up and walk faster. We had this creature on the run, and we weren't about to let it escape us.

I spoke too soon. It walked fast enough so we couldn't catch up. We ran as fast as we could and we were only able to reach the tail. Obviously that was a bad idea. The Lao-Shan began swinging its tail and it swept Knyku, Zang and I away. As we were trying to get back up, the Lao-Shan hit the walls with its tail, making the whole place cave in. There was no way we could get back to him so easily. He was walking too fast to catch up and all the roads were blocked off because of destroyed buildings and walls.

"Damn it! We can't kill it before it goes through the town now!" shouted Zang.

"Well we can't waste any time here complaining about it either, so come on!" I shouted.

We decided to try to climb the rubble that the Lao-Shan had created. We climbed a few until we knew we couldn't make it unless we had something faster than our feet.

"-Pant- -pant- H-hey, don't they sell something to ride around here?" asked Zang.

"Like what? An Aptonoth can't catch up to that thing!" Knyku replied.

"No, but maybe they have something different here. I mean, they need something to climb these mountains," I implied, "Come on, let's go find something."

We wandered around the destroyed town for a few minutes. We could still hear the Lao-Shan leveling the rest of the town. We found a group of evacuated townspeople.

"Does anyone know anything we can use or ride that can get us to that thing faster?" asked Zang.

"My mommy has an Aptonoth," offered a small girl.

"No, something faster!" said Zang.

"My husband domesticates velociprey, maybe you can ride them," offered a woman.

"Thank you! Where is he?" I asked.

"He's up north, near the empty fields. That's where he can train them." She informed.

"Let's get there before the Lao-Shan passes that area!" said Knyku.

"Hmph," I nodded.

We got there as fast as we could and found the man evacuating his family. He had his daughters by the wrists and one on his shoulder, running for his life. His youngest daughter dropped her doll. Knyku stopped the man and began to ask him for the velociprey. I walked over to the doll and gave it to the little girl. She said thank you and hung herself on her dads shoulder, hugging her doll.

"Much appreciated," thanked Knyku, "Alright, he has five velociprey and a Velocidromes. Xan, you have the lightest weapon, I think you should take the drome. You'd be able to control him better."

"Alright," I agreed.

"I get to ride him after you though," added Zang with a giant grin on his face.

We got on the velociprey and released the ones we were not going to use. The owner asked Knyku to release them, he didn't want them to get hurt by the Lao-Shan.

The velociprey were extremely fast and we caught up to the Lao-Shan Lung easily. The velociprey would jump over all the rubble and any obstacle in our way. We were above the Lao-Shan, or rather, in an area more elevated than the Lao-Shan. We ran behind the Lao-Shan. Knyku and Zang dodged the tail and were able to get on the sides of the Lao-Shan. From their velociprey, they blasted and slashed. I personally felt bad for Zang's velociprey. It had to carry the gunlance, plus try not to fall over from the powerful blast. I on the other hand couldn't get a good enough opportunity to pass the titan's tail.

We have failed our mission; this thing had cut through Contra already. But this wasn't the end; we will not let this thing get any further… 

I finally found an open space and got through. We kept attacking it for what felt like eternity. Nothing seemed to be doing anything. We kept striking the head and nothing worked. This thing was on a mission to escape us. We though hope was lost, until I heard a roar. At first I thought it was the Lao-Shan Lung until I heard it roar In pain. Something powerful hit it. I look at the Lao-Shan's face and it was almost entirely scorched. I look further up ahead and I see a Basarios….and someone on it…it was Zakca! As we began to pass a guard bridge, I saw Ran on the top in her new armor and with her new weapons.

"Hey Xan! Let's finish this big guy!" Ran shouted with a smile on her face.

It's time to finish this fight….


	16. Epilogue

-?-

Too much has happened since the fight with the Lao-Shan Lung. We defeated it… All of us: Ran, Zang, Knyku and Zakca. After that battle, we all went out own separate ways. Ran and I began an amazing relationship but I knew that she was growing up and needed to be on her own to become a better hunter. I could no longer help her so we departed as well. Now I am alone and trying to find myself all over again. At times I wish I could just relive all our adventures. I chose not to give up, however, still hoping of some stroke of luck that I will find new friends or meet up with my old ones at some point in the future.

Zang headed off to research his medicines and to create new types of potions and other healing items. Last I checked, he was on the verge of a great discovery and was off to look for these crystals that had some extreme healing properties. Zacka went back home to raise his Basarios and plans to go back to hunting when he thinks his Basarios will be able to fight alongside him. Knyku was asked to be a Gaurdian of the guild. Without hesitation, he took the position and is now constantly fighting creatures for the sake of the guild. I haven't heard much from Ran. I have confidence that she is bettering herself for the greater adventures that await her. I, however, am continuing my search for myself. As well as looking for what is going on with these new creatures appearing and the random spike on monster population.

I was headed off to a new town called Salamence. I was told that a lot of suspicious activity was occurring there that may have something to do with these creatures appearing.

"My spirit as well as the spirit of my wife shall always be with our son. It will carry him to greatness and he will be a great hunter, just like his mother and I. Whenever he needs us, he can always find us deep within his heart."

My father's journal always gave me inspiration and the want to do better. I would always read a small line or sentence from his journal to lighten my mood whenever I felt down or like giving up. My parents believed in me and I will not let them down.

I looked up at the sky and saw a vespoid peacefully flying through the air and almost immediately, my hawk, Shadow, swooped down on it and sure enough, my little friend had lunch. I pulled out my map to see how much closer I was to my destination. It didn't seem like I had much more to go. I just need to cross over the Achula Mountains and I will be there within the next day.

I reached the foot of the Achula Mountains and was preparing to climb when I saw a small creature run into a cave. Out of curiosity I decided to follow it. I grabbed a tree branch and stuck pieces of sap plant onto it then lit it with a small firestone. I walked around aimlessly through the caves for an hour or so until I came across a curious little tube-like creature. It was slowly crawling across the floor and didn't seem to notice me. That was until I accidently kicked a small stone and it hit another stone. Making a small, but still echoing sound through the empty caves, it alerted the tiny creature. Only until it turned from the rocks back to the creature, did I notice that it had no eyes. It began to sniff the air, as if searching for something's presence.

Without warning, it leaped at me and stuck itself onto my chest. I could feel the tiny teeth piercing through my armor and making small incisions into my skin. Immediately I tried to pull it off but I could feel its teeth grabbing on to anything it could. I began to feel it sucking out my blood and as it did so, it grew bigger and fatter. Any more of this and I could be drained entirely, so I pulled out my knife and stabbed the creature with a dagger. Going all the way through the creature, the stab instantly killed it. I felt the release of its jaws and lightly pulled until it came off.

I took off a glove and felt that the creature had velvet-like skin. Blood began to drip out of the creature so I put it down and kept going through the caves. Ever since then I had the feeling I was being watched.

Feeling dizzy from the loss of blood, I decided to take a break and drink a potion or two until I recovered. I took a sip of my potion and couldn't help but let out an "uck." The taste of potion was just unbearable. Hunters from guilds that would constantly drink lost all taste and can consume as much potion without feeling disgusted by the taste.

After a few minutes, I got up and began my search for an exit or something valuable within these caves. I walked for a half hour until I came upon this web-like area. I immediately wanted to get out, until I noticed a small shining figure. It looked like a crystal, but it had a special property to it that I can't explain. It radiated a small white light. I reached for it and tried to pull it out, but the web like structure was in my way.

I knew that I would probably suffer for it later but I decided to cut down the web object. I was planning to grab the crystal and quickly run before anything came. The structure came down with a large thud that shook the cave. All of a sudden, many more web-like structures began to fall, but these were much smaller.

There were many more crystals behind that web which illuminated the cave with light. I gave the structures a further inspection and saw that the web was more like a gooey material. I cut open an area in the structure and to my horror; saw the face of an aged Rathalos. It seemed as if it was hundreds of years old, but was actually drained of all its life. I jumped back in shock and decided to open some smaller web structures. I found velociprey, infant aptonoths and even Shakalaka. All were the same. They were all drained of every shred of life they had. I opened another and saw a person in there.

I inspected the body and removed their helmet. It was a man and he seemed to be clenching something in his fist. I struggled to open it but eventually got it to reveal what he was protecting. It looked like a necklace. It seemed to radiate light just like the crystals on the wall; only the light was a bluish color rather than white.

This man had an armor that was nothing but pure iron and leather. It gave him no protection against whatever was after him obviously. I searched his pockets with hope of finding who he might be. I only found a few potions and some antidote herbs. I searched another pouch that was on his side. I found a bundle of crystals that shined brightly in the small light available, as well as a small paper with a drawing on it. It looked like a family picture; an old one at that. It showed him, his wife and a very young daughter. They all looked happy. It broke my heart to see this man dead when he had a family that he had to leave behind.

Rocks shuffled nearby and immediately I put the picture and crystals in my pouch and drew my sword. Black and slick, my sword seemed to disappear within the darkness of the cave. I used some of the money from my battle with the Lao-Shan Lung to upgrade my blade. It is now called Dark Jagged Jaw.

Something was in the dark, I could feel it. I began to retreat back to try to collect a sample of the crystal before I left. I can hopefully make good use of it. I kicked the crystal with the Dragonite-enforced heel of my boot to break off a piece of the crystal. I collected my piece next to the piece that was still in the wall which is a now pointed tip. As I began to walk forward to try to go around the turn and to an exit, I began to see a purple light illuminating from some object in the darkness.

At the edge of the light I could see a purple fluid flowing more into the light. I threw my torch at it and as I had hoped, it ignited and lit up the cave for a few seconds. The light revealed a beast incredible in size. The flames followed the trail of fluid into the creature's mouth, engulfing it in flames. I tried to make a run for the exit but as I began to run, the creature swung around and threw me against the wall. It put itself out and I could see the creature perfectly. To my horror, it seemed to have two heads and the light emulating from its body had gotten more intense. Surely this creature was enraged.

Something about it made it seem like it was related to the cavern horror known as the Khezu, but I had no time to think about it. I had to kill it or get out. I stumbled to my feet and tried to make another run for the door, this time more cautious of its attacks. It slammed its head or tail in front of me to block off the exit, so I dodged to the side to try to avoid any more attacks. This creature kept trying to strike me but to no success. Finally it spat out this purple fluid at me. It hit the floor with a suspicious sizzle. I knew I couldn't get hit with that or I would be done for.

It kept spitting out this fluid and I kept dodging as best I could, but with every shot that hit the ground, it would splash and hit my coat, dissolving it slowly. To avoid more blasts of this acid substance, I ducked behind the Rathalos carcass.

There was no way this body was going to last long with that chemical. I could hear the sizzling from the substance eating at the body. I scanned the area in front of me for any hope of something I can use to fight back. To my astonishment, I saw a cocoon that was still moving. I quickly reached for it and sliced it open. Like lightning, a felyne busted out of the cocoon.

"I'm free, meow! I'm fr—" he shouted before I grabbed him.

"Wait a second! That thing is right behind us. You can't get out if he's watching us." I told him. I looked back and saw the creature sniffing the air, trying to catch my scent. I gave a big sigh and turned back to the Felyne. "Listen to me. I'm going to distract that thing. Get yourself out, ok?"

"What about-" he began.

"Never mind me. Just get out. Got it?" I said.

"…Yes, meow," he said.

"Good. Here I go," I said.

I ran as fast as I could and tried to get the creature's attention. I grabbed a stone and chucked it at what I hoped to be its head. It turned to me with ferocity and began to charge me.

"Go! Now!" I ordered.

"Meow, Thank you!" the felyne shouted back.

I dodged out of the beast's tackle but to no success. It smacked me back with its tail. I was thrown at the wall again, but before I could get up, the beast pinned me against the wall with one of its wings. It looked as if it was ready to spit out the acidic substance directly at me. Out of reflex, I grabbed the first thing in my pouch and threw it at the creature. Instantly the inside of the creature caught on fire. I threw a firestone and the acid was extremely flammable. The creature flailed in pain and horror.

Unfortunately it threw me as well… Flying in the air, I cannot help but think that this will not turn out so well. Almost instantly I felt something pierce througj me. I looked down at my chest and saw the broken crystal I collected from. I saw all my adventures and life pass through my mind at incredible speeds. I could still see the creature die in front of me… burning from the inside. My body began to go limp and I saw the glow of the crystal fade away. The last thing I hear is someone shouting my name and the last thing I see is a shine coming from a corner of the cave… This seems to be my end… I never became what my parents believed I was destined to be...

To be continued?


End file.
